Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

() of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, situated at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the

. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land area.

Overview

Modern industries in Spandau include metalworking, and chemical and electrical factories.

BMW Motorrad ''BMW Motorrad'' is the motorcycle brand and division of German automotive manufacturer, BMW. It has produced motorcycles since 1923, and achieved record sales for the fifth year in succession in 2015. With a total of 136,963 vehicles sold in 201 ...

's Spandau factory made all BMW's motorcycles from 1969 until final assembly plants were added in Rayong, Thailand, in 2000, and

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, Brazil, in 2016. , Spandau's seat of government, was built in 1913. Other landmarks include the Renaissance-era Spandau Citadel, the 1848 St. Marien am Behnitz Catholic church designed by August Soller, and Spandau arsenal. That arsenal's Spandau machine gun inspired the slang ''Spandau Ballet'' to describe dying soldiers on barbed wire during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and later was applied to the appearance of Nazi war criminals at Spandau Prison. In 1979, the English New Romantic band

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

again re-purposed the term for its name.

History

The history of Spandau begins in the 7th century or 8th century, when the

Slav The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and N ...

Heveller first settled in the area and later built a fortress there. It was conquered in 928 by the German King Henry I, but returned to Slavic rule after the rebellion of 983. In 1156, the Ascanian Earl Albrecht von Ballenstedt ("Albrecht the Bear") took possession of the region. 1197 marked the first mention as ''Spandowe'' in a deed of Otto II, Margrave of Brandenburg – thus forty years earlier than the

Cölln Cölln () was the Twin cities, twin city of Old Berlin (Alt-Berlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fischerinsel, Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River ...

part of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Berlin. Spandau was given city rights in 1232. During Ascanian rule the construction of Spandau Citadel began, which was completed between 1559 and 1594 by Joachim II of Brandenburg. In 1558 the village of Gatow became part of Spandau. In 1634, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, Spandau was surrendered to the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

. In 1689, a commune of French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

and

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

was established. In 1806, after the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt, French troops under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

took possession of the city and stayed there until 1807. In 1812, Napoleon returned, and the Citadel was besieged the following year by Prussian and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n troops. From 1849 the poet and revolutionary Gottfried Kinkel was an inmate of Spandau town prison, until he was freed by his friend

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

in the night of 6 November 1850. Before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Spandau was a seat of large government cannon foundries, factories for making

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

and other munitions of war, making it a centre of the arms industry in the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. It was also a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

town with numerous

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

, home of the 5th Guard Infantry Brigade and the 5th Guard Foot Regiment of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

. In 1920, Spandau (whose name had been changed from ''Spandow'' in 1878) was incorporated into Greater Berlin as a borough. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Spandau was the location of a subcamp of the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

, mostly for Polish and Hungarian women. After World War II, it was part of the British sector of

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. Spandau Prison, which had been rebuilt in 1876, was used to house

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

war criminals given custodial sentences at the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. After the death of Spandau Prison's last inmate,

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

, in 1987, it was completely demolished by the Allied powers and later replaced by a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

. Gatow airfield, in the south of the district, was used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the post-war Allied occupation, most notably during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

. Since 1995 the airfield has been the Gatow Museum of Military History.

Geography

Outside Berlin, Spandau borders the districts () of

Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Ba ...

to the north, and Havelland to the west, and the city of

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, to the southwest. Within Berlin, it borders the boroughs of

Steglitz-Zehlendorf Steglitz-Zehlendorf () is the sixth Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf, Berlin, Zehlendorf. Home to the Free University of Berlin, the Be ...

to the south, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf to the east, and Reinickendorf to the northeast. Its land area of is the fourth-largest of the twelve boroughs.

Subdivisions

Spandau Borough is divided into nine quarters (): *

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

* Haselhorst * Siemensstadt * Staaken * Gatow * Kladow * Hakenfelde * Falkenhagener Feld * Wilhelmstadt

Demographics

As of 2010, Spandau had a population of 223,962, the smallest of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. 62,000 of those were migrants or other non-ethnic Germans, comprising 27% of Spandau's population.

Politics

District council

The governing body of Spandau is the district council (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/− ! Seats ! +/− , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align=left, Carola Brückner , 31,250 , 27.7 , 5.5 , 17 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Frank Bewig , 30,714 , 27.2 , 1.5 , 16 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align=left, Elmas Wieczorek-Hahn , 13,460 , 11.9 , 4.3 , 7 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , align=left, Andreas Otti , 11,516 , 10.2 , 5.8 , 6 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Matthias Unger , 8,464 , 7.5 , 1.1 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (LINKE) , align=left, Lars Leschewitz , 6,104 , 5.4 , 0.2 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Tierschutzpartei , align=left, Aida Spiegeler Castañeda , 5,063 , 4.5 , New , 2 , New , - , colspan=8 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

, align=left, , 2,235 , 2.0 , 0.4 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, dieBasis , align=left, , 1,743 , 1.5 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, We are Berlin , align=left, , 1,222 , 1.1 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, Voter Initiative Social Spandau , align=left, , 677 , 0.6 , 0.8 , 0 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party , align=left, , 296 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Liberal Conservative Reformers , align=left, , 138 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 112,882 ! 98.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,577 ! 1.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 114,459 ! 100.0 ! ! 55 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 177,874 ! 64.3 ! 5.0 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Elections Berlin

District government

The district mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister'') is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Carola Brückner of the SPD was elected mayor on 4 November 2021. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:

Sports

The Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 have traditionally been an immensely powerful

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

team. They have been the most successful ball sports team in Europe with 85 national and international titles. Hagen Stamm, longtime captain of the team, was German champion fourteen times in a row from 1979 to 1992, and winner of the German cup twelve times and won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

in 1982, 1985, 1986 and 1989. He is currently the president of the association (as of 2020). The team's home games do not take place in the district, but in the Sportzentrum Schöneberg. For 2027, the team plans to move to the then newly constructed arena in Spandau. In 1939, LSV Spandau won the title of the first German basketball championship, which was won by a clear 47:16 victory over

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...

. After 1945, the association was dissolved.

Notable people

* Bela B. (born 1962), musician * Hans Berndt (1913–1988), football player * Helmut Bonnet (1910–1944), athlete * Käthe Heinemann (1891–1975), pianist * Robert Hoyzer (born 1979), football referee * Käthe Itter (1907–1992), actress * Paul Kellner (1890–1972), swimmer * Henning Alexander von Kleist (1707–1784), Governor of Spandau citadel, died there * Rosa Lindemann (1876–1958), communist * Arthur Löwenstamm (1882–1965), Spandau Synagogue's first and only rabbi from 1917 to 1938 * Moriz von Lyncker (1853–1932), Prussian officer and Chief of the Military Cabinet of Kaiser Wilhelm II * Christian Friedrich Neue (1789–1886), philologist * Oliver Petszokat (born 1978), better known by his stage name Oli.P, singer, actor and TV presenter * Hans von Plessen (1841–1929), Prussian Colonel-General * Ivan Rebroff (1931–2008), singer * Erna Sack (1898–1972),

coloratura Coloratura ( , , ; , from ''colorata'', the past participle of the verb ''colorare'', 'to color') is a passage of music holding elaboration to a melody. The elaboration usually takes the form of runs, trills, wide leaps or other virtuoso ma ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, known as the German Nightingale for her high

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

. * Sıla Şahin (born 1985), actress * Richard Schulze-Kossens (1914–1988), SS commander during the Nazi era * Elke Sommer (1940-) * Franz Hermann Troschel (1810–1882), zoologist * Carl Albert Weber (1856–1931), botanist * Kai Wegner (born 1972), politician of the

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

(CDU)

Twin towns – sister cities

Spandau is twinned with: *

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

, Israel (1968) *

Asnières-sur-Seine Asnières-sur-Seine () is a Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the left bank of the river Seine, some eight kilometr ...

, France (1959) * İznik, Turkey (1987) *

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, United Kingdom (1959) * Nauen, Germany (1988) *

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

, Germany (1952) *

Siegen-Wittgenstein Siegen-Wittgenstein is a Kreis (district) in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Olpe (district), Olpe, Hochsauerlandkreis, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill, Westerwaldkreis, and Altenkirche ...

, Germany (1952)

References

External links

Official homepage

Official homepage of Berlin

"Unterwegs in Spandau": Sehenswürdigkeiten, News, Veranstaltungshinweise und Berichte aus Spandau
{{Authority control Districts of Berlin Former boroughs of Berlin